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Top Downloads for 2010

‘Tis the season to look back at 2010 and remember the most enjoyable novels of the year. There are an unbelievable number of Best Of 2010 lists out there, but I think most library patrons are just desperately looking for a great read from among the tens of thousands of novels that came out this year. With that in mind, here is a list of 16 readable, enjoyable novels from the past year available in our eMedia Catalog. (Not all publishers will sell their digital books to libraries, so we’ll limit this list to those that are available to us.) Please chime in with any we might have missed.

Justin Cronin – The PassageIf you like to be scared, this is the book for you. Stephen King says “Read fifteen pages and you will find yourself captivated; read thirty and you will find yourself taken prisoner and reading late into the night.”

Tom Franklin – Crooked Letter, Crooked LetterThis mystery by Edgar winner Franklin brings two former boyhood friends, one white and one black, back together in adulthood when one is implicated in a crime similar to one that was committed when they were children.

Jonathan Franzen – FreedomSome consider Franzen the best writer of our time. This story of several friends from their lives in the 1970s to their present day struggles with children and modern life deals with the major issues of the past twenty years.

Tana French – Faithful PlaceBack in 1985 Frank was going to run away with Rosie, but she didn’t show up at their meeting place. Now, years later, her suitcase is found.

John Grisham – The ConfessionWhen Travis Boyette is paroled because of inoperable brain tumor, for the first time in his life, he decides to do the right thing and tell police about a crime he committed and another man is about to be executed for.

Guy Gavriel Kay – Under HeavenThe award-winning author evokes the dazzling Tang Dynasty of 8th-century China in a story of honor and power, as a general travels to claim a gift of horses.

Stieg Larsson – The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s NestNearly everyone who has read the three books about Lisbeth Salander raves about these stories of an incredibly strong, unbelievably smart heroine who seems to defeat all the terrible bad guys who are after her. This time she does it from a hospital bed.

John Le Carré – Our Kind of TraitorA couple on vacation in Antigua are recruited by a money launderer to help him, and find themselves in deadly danger. By the master of spy thrillers.

Lionel Shriver – So Much for ThatShep has been dreaming of leaving Brooklyn for a tropical paradise. He sells his business for a million dollars, but his wife can’t go with him…she’s sick and needs his health insurance. Despite the depressing subject, this is a page turner.

Gary Shteyngart – Super Sad True Love StoryA hilarious story of a near future Russian immigrant who moves to a crumbling, and largely illiterate America. Despite the National Guard tanks on the streets and the Chinese about to call in their loans, he refuses to be depressed and vows to love his new homeland.

Helen Simonson – Major Pettigrew’s Last StandIn a small English village, retired Major Pettigrew falls in love with Mrs. Jasmina Ali, the Pakistani shopkeeper from the village. Drawn together by their shared love of literature and the loss of their respective spouses, they find their friendship turning into something more. But the villagers view Mrs. Ali as a foreigner and think she is not a suitable match for Major Pettigrew.

Jane Smiley – Private LifeThe story of a marriage over several decades including World War II. Margaret makes a great match, marrying the most famous man in their Missouri town when she is 27, but over the years, her husband’s devotion to science and the changes in his personality make her question her life.

Scott Spencer – Man in the WoodsCharacters from Spencer’s earlier Ship Made of Paper return in this psychological thriller about a man whose life changes when he interferes with a man beating a dog.